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How do you turn off Legacy Controls?

Anonymous
2016-11-18T02:47:54+00:00

I see plenty of instructions on how to turn Legacy Controls on, but I want to turn them OFF.

I'm using Office 365/Word 2016 on a MacBook Pro (OS 10.11.6). 

I am creating a fillable form. I started on my Mac and inserted check boxes (the new versions), then opened the form on my PC at work to continue editing in Word 2016 there (Windows 7 Pro). Now I am back on the Mac trying to add more check boxes but I can only add the old-fashioned gray box. My Developer ribbon says "Legacy Controls" and no longer allows me to create the checkboxes I did before. In the images below, you can see the ribbon and then (next image), the two different text boxes...the top one is the non-Legacy version that I initially created, the lower box is the gray version. I want them all to look like the top version.

How can I turn off the Legacy Controls and use Word 2016 to its full potential?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Jim G 134K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2016-11-20T21:25:26+00:00

Please allow me to correct some of the things Phillip said.

He's correct that there are three kinds of checkboxes:

  1. Legacy control. This is the oldest kind of control. This is the ONLY control type that can be made and edited in Word for the Mac at this time. This kind of control can also be made and edited in Word for Windows. On the Mac, this control is not labeled as "legacy control" in the developer tab of the Ribbon. In Word for Windows, this kind of control is in the "Legacy Forms" drop down as shown from this screen shot from Word for Windows.

  1. Content Control. In Word for Windows, this is the default control you get when you click the check box control in the Ribbon. You can insert content controls in Word for Windows, but you can't insert them in Word for Mac (yet). Content Controls will display and work on a Mac. Content control is the newest style of control in Word. Microsoft is in the process of bringing full content control capability to the Mac. In Word build 15.29 for Mac I find that there are some formatting aspects of content controls I can modify, but the ability to add and fully adjust the properties of content controls is currently not available.

3. Active-X control. Active-X was a big fad for a while. Phillip is completely wrong about Active-X being banned on the Mac. At one point Microsoft began a port of Active-X to the Mac, but never completed the project. Active-X controls have never been able to be made on a Mac and they don't display or work on a Mac.

In conclusion, legacy controls are completely cross platform. Content Controls can be made and edited in Windows Word, but not Mac word, but they display and work fine on a Mac. Full capability of Content Controls is on the way on the Mac. Active-X controls are PC only and should be avoided in a cross-platform environment.

You might wish to put a suggestion that Microsoft complete the job of allowing content control insertion and editing on the Mac in the suggestion forum:

Word for Mac

Word for Mac

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  1. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 435.6K Reputation points
    2016-11-18T13:31:12+00:00

    I'm afraid you must be misremembering :-) Nothing has changed in the software. The only Forms controls that can be created in any version of Office for Mac are the Legacy Forms Controls.

    Support for completing forms on a Mac that use Content Controls has improved significantly, but they still must be inserted using a Windows version of the software.

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  2. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 435.6K Reputation points
    2016-11-18T16:39:48+00:00

    As for how, I can't say. My only guess is that you may have created the base content on your Mac then added the Content Controls on a PC. The only other possibility I can think of is that you may have used a PC template to create the document, but even so there would have been no means of adding them or modifying the properties you mentioned on a Mac. The Check Box Form Field from the legacy controls offers only the Properties shown in this screen shot:

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-11-18T14:06:50+00:00

    Thank you for taking the time to reply. I very well may be misremembering but if so, how did I create the lovely check boxes in the image attached to my original post? They have notes for the user and allowed me to modify the symbol used (check vs. x, etc.). None of those controls available in the Mac version? Hmm, that's unfortunate.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-11-18T04:10:34+00:00

    You can't turn off Legacy controls in Mac because They are the only Type VBA controls that the Mac version can use. 

    There are three type Controls. 

    1. Content
    2. Active-X
    3. Legacy Form Controls

    Despite The Mac version coming out first, Microsoft has never seen fit to add Content Controls.

    Active-X will never happen. Apple has a permanent ban on Active-X, finding the way Microsoft has written its impossible to make safe. And Several years ago was proved to Microsoft. If everyone remembered some years ago, it was found for about a year maybe to until people finally got wise and found that most Virus, Worms, and Trojan Horses used active-X to deliver their payload.  After that In IE, they changed from Active-X being on by default, Requiring Users to read a warning before turning Active-X.

    The world of Malware has changed since then and uses other methods, to trick unsuspecting users installing Malware. However, as long as active-X is around the ban will stay in place. Because of the Ban Software vendors that create and promote Active-X control and applications have no incentive to build anything for Mac.

    Now back to your issue. I know nothing of VBA controls, I seem to remember, or think, I do recall from reading Post that the shading can be turned off and an actual checkmark or X can show. Instead. 

    However, You need to hear from  People that use VBA and Macros. There are at least three maybe four MVP's, that are experts on VBA and can tell you if the shadows can be supressed.

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